Alternate Toy Story
by burtonfan422
Summary: This is an alternate universe that tells the story of Toy Story 2 with very different characters.
1. Jake's Room

In Jake's room, there were many action figures from the various films he was into. Some he had inherited from his two older brothers (Mike and Bill). He cared for them greatly like any child would, playing with them and putting them on great adventures. But what he did not know, was how they truly alive they were when he wasn't around.

They were a community headed up by the toy he had had the longest, and always slept with: a large plushie of Crush the Turtle from "Finding Nemo." He was a good leader of this little community and everyone trusted him, whenever there was a quarrel, he was always an excellent negotiator.

Their were a few toys based off of villains, naturally, but a treaty had been made to make sure that they never got into mischief, and fortunately, the heroes always made sure to keep the villains in line as necessary.

Now, two toys that I would like to first bring into picture in order to bring up our story were an action figure of Sonic and a plushie of his best friend Tails. Now, Tails looked more or less like his videogame counterpart, but Sonic (who had been a hand-me-down) was a little different. He had some kind of medallion hung around his neck that looked like a tiny guitar. But, nobody questioned it; they were all good friends and didn't just question each other's make.

In addition to being best friends with Tails, Sonic was also best friends with an action figure of Admiral Ackbar from "Star Wars" that Jake's mother had bought him on his 6th birthday, shortly after he got into "Star Wars". Their friendship started when Ackbar once got stuck under the floorboards and might have been destroyed by a rat had Sonic not intervened by pouncing on the rat and giving it a good kick in the rear before helping Ackbar out of the tight situation. Ackbar often stated that someday, he'd like to return the favor, but hoped he wouldn't have to.

Another action figure that should be brought up at this time would likely be Sirius Black from "Harry Potter." Jake had bought Sirius at a rummage sale for only 3 of the $15.00 his parents had given him to go crazy that day. Sirius didn't really have kids of his own, and Jake at this time didn't have figures of the younger characters from "Harry Potter," so Sirius had taken it upon himself to be something of a father figure to Sonic and Tails, and they did look up to him.

I will try to talk about a few other toys that will be important to this story as time goes on as they become mentioned. One day in early summer, Mr. Potato Head and Spider Spud found a brochure for a summer camp on Jake's desk. What was interesting about those two was that Mr. Potato Head was another relatively old toy that had once belonged to one Bill. Spider Spud, who basically looked like Mr. Potato Head covered with a Spiderman costume, was a Christmas gift from Jake's grandparents one year. Considering that had it not been for Mr. Potato Head, Hasbro might never had created Spider Spud, "Spuddie" (as everyone called him) had great respect for the "Old Guy" as he called him, and Mr. Potato Head acted as a father figure to the newcomer the moment they met.

It read that Jake was going to be away for a week and be able to do outdoor things such as swimming in a lake, hiking, sitting around a campfire and many other cool activities that the toys understood he probably did not have opportunities to do at home.

"He's going to have a really great time hanging out with his friends out in the wilderness," said Sonic.

"Y'know, I'm a little jealous of that dude, breathing in the fresh air and swimming in real lake water," agreed Crush.

"Yeah, but you want to know a secret, considering you're his oldest friend Crush, he might take you with him," answered 6. His compatriot, 7 chuckled in agreement. 6 and 7 were relatively new toys in this gathering. They were Christmas presents the year their film "9" came out. After seeing it in theatres with his oldest brother, Mike, Jake talked about how cool he thought the characters were for almost a month, even getting help from his Mom to make a Halloween costume. So, that Christmas, Mike had found a two-pack containing 6 and 7 which he gave to Jake.

"Oh, I dunno dude, normally when he travels, he tends to take Tigger with him," answered Crush. It was true, Tigger, a stuffed animal designed from a character from Winnie the Pooh dressed in safari clothing was a souvenir/gift from a trip to Disney World when Jake was only four. Ever since then, Tigger had become something of a travel buddy for Jake.

"Don't you worry, Crush old buddy, old palaroo, I'll make sure Jake's alright," answered Tigger.

"We know you will Tigger, you're Mr. Adventure through and through!" quipped Tails.

"Well, I don't think any heffalumps or woozles will be at this camp, but I'm sure you'll be there for him on the stormy nights," added 7. It was right about then that they heard the sound of someone coming up the stairs. The toys scuttled to a place where they could freeze without being in the way. In rushed Jake, the first thing he did was run to his closet and pull out an army green backpack and a suitcase. He proceeded to pack up some clothes, an extra hat, a pillow, a sleeping bag and then, leaving the door open, he rushed to the bathroom to grab some basic toiletries, which he proceeded to put in his backpack. In this backpack he also placed two water bottles, a flashlight, a notebook and some pens. Finally he stuffed in his backpack, Tigger. He then made sure that the rest of his toys were on shelves or drawers or smartly placed on his desk or bed. Slinging his backpack on his shoulders and grabbing his suitcase, he left the room and quietly closed the door. The toys started to become conscious and managed to hear Jake say: "I'm ready to leave whenever you are Dad! But can we stop for a camera on the way to Doug's house?" Doug was Jake's best friend, and the toys quickly figured that he was probably spending the night there before heading off to camp.

"Well, I guess that about concludes it, that's a lad off to a new adventure," said Gimli the Dwarf from one of the shelves. Gimli, from the Lord of the Rings action figure line up was a find at a convention that Jake's uncle had brought him to once. In addition to meeting actors from movies both of them enjoyed, they also decided to try their hand at the costume contest. Jake had won best entry for kid's ages 7 through 12, and the prize was a coupon for a free action figure at one of the vendor's. Gimli had such cool accessories and looked so tough that Jake picked him.

"Squirtle! Squirtle!" called a Squirtle bank from Jake's desk. Squirtle was made of rubber, so Jake was able to play with him like any of his toys. Jake found him in the basement of his house, and brought it to the attention of his brother's. Bill told him that when he was a kid, a phenomenon known as "Pokémon" was all the rage, and that their parents had given him that bank. He told Jake that if he liked it, he could have it for his loose change. So Jake did exactly that.

"What did that turtle say?" asked Gimli in bewilderment.

"He said, "and fun, don't forget fun," answered Pongo who was sitting right next to Squirtle. A Beanie Baby sized Dalmatian from the Disney movie "101 Dalmatians," Pongo, like Tigger, was another souvenir from Walt Disney World that Jake received on another trip there. The moment he arrived in the room, Pongo and Squirtle formed a fast relationship. Partly because for reasons nobody could understand, Pongo seemed able to understand what Squirtle was saying, so they were always around each other.

"Yes well, it would seem that we now have the room to ourselves, so let's just make the most out of it, get a little vacation time in," suggested Sirius. Everyone jumped right into the notion. Some of the toys began playing poker. Tails and Admiral Ackbar logged onto an online adventure game and with their shared character, began "travelling" around. A few of the toys even took some time to explore the area under Jake's bed, to them; it was the equivalent of spelunking. Crush and 6 in the meanwhile, chose to pick up on their reading.


	2. Yard Sale

Just two days after Jake's departure, Sonic happened to be walking upon one of the bookshelves when he heard an unusual coughing sound. He carefully moved one of the books out of his way and what should he have found there but an owl wearing a big green hat and green pants. This particular owl had definitely seen better days. It took him about a minute for him to realize who this was.

"Woodsy Owl?! Is that truly you? I haven't seen you in awhile!" he exclaimed.

"Hello Sonic," said Woodsy rather weakly.

"What are you doing here? I thought Jake's mom was going to fix you, sew you up, course that was some time ago," asked Sonic.

"Eh, she said that to make him feel better, but instead hid me here, saying she just had more important things to do at the time, and she looked at me saying: I'll come back. But, I was completely forgotten," Woodsy explained.

"Why didn't you call for help, any one of us would have pulled you out of here, set you somewhere she could have spotted you," Sonic asked once again.

"I did try, but, what do you know, the dust kept getting in my throat, and with so many injuries and having lost a bit of stuffing, I lacked the strength to actually shout or move this book to make my vocals work correctly," said Woodsy with a most melancholic voice. All of a sudden, as if to change tone in the room, a commercial on the room's TV that Pongo and Squirtle were watching blared on.

"Welcome to the Toy Shack! We're located right at the Fairview Outlet Mall! Anything you could want-" Pongo turned off the TV.

"The last thing we need is someone finding out that we're alive up here, plus that guy is so annoying," he said.

"Ah let's just face it, I'm done for, Sonic, everyone knows that when a toy is put aside and forgotten, one of two things happen, the trash, or a yard sale," Woodsy continued.

"Squirt-Squirtle!" Squirtle called.

"What's that my brethren?" asked Crush.

"He said yard sale," answered Pongo, it took about half a minute for everyone in the room to suddenly realize the gravity of this.

"Everybody get with your buddies and stick together! You know the drill! This could easily be a trap!" Ackbar ordered. Crush began doing a role call when all of a sudden footsteps were heard coming up to the room, trying not to be obvious, the toys all hid themselves. In came Jake's mom.

"Alright then, let's see what has to go," she said to no one in particular. She walked around the room, picked up a few kiddie games that Jake and his brothers didn't play anymore such as 'Candyland,' 'Hi-Ho Cheerio,' and 'Connect Four.' She then picked up two kiddie puzzles having to move a very nervous 6 out of the way to get them. She then went to the bookshelf, pulled off a few books, and then saw Woodsy. Sonic watched her intently, trying to remain perfectly calm. She just reached in, and pulled Woodsy right out. Sonic looked his friend in the eyes as the old owl simply said: "So long buddy, take care." Before being placed unceremoniously into the box. That was right when Jake's mother left.

Sonic stood dumbfounded for about a second but then snapped into action. He leapt off the bookshelf, and whistled. Trudging into the room came the family's pet Chihuahua, Rocky. Sonic looked Rocky in the eye and said: "Lay down!" Having been trained by both the toys and humans to follow various commands, Rocky obeyed. Sonic climbed aboard Rocky, gripping onto the dog's collar and told him: "Go to the yard sale!" Rocky yipped and ran right down the stairs. All the other toys in the room could not believe what they had just seen.

"Come back Sonic! You're still needed here! Please don't sell yourself!" Sirius called.

Sonic did not adhere to Sirius' call; he had a mission to undertake. He lead Rusty to the yard, and hid himself underneath the dog's body, making sure nobody could see him, while keeping a weather eye out for the box that had Woodsy in it.

Meanwhile, Sonic's friends back up in Jake's room rushed to the window, 7 carrying a toy telescope that she assisted Crush in using.

"What's going on, Crush?" asked Tails.

"Patience dude, give me some time to find old blue," said Crush. But that apparently did not take long as Crush then said; "Aw dude, Sonic's just climbed up on one of the tables, and he's about to jump into one of the boxes!"

"I can't bear to watch this!" said 6, covering his eyes.

"Me neither!" said Mr. Potato Head who took out his eyes and hid them behind his back.

"Wait! I think I see him coming out of there, and he's holding something, aw dude it's Woodsy Owl!" exclaimed Crush.

"Woodsy?!" everyone exclaimed in unison as they tried to get the best look they could. It was indeed true, Sonic was pulling out poor Woodsy owl from the box, and was now carrying him down to Rocky.

"Oh, so he wasn't trying to sell himself, it was a rescue mission!" exclaimed Spider Spud.

"That's my boy!" exclaimed Sirius in agreement. Back down at the yard sale, Sonic was busy tucking Woodsy into Rocky's collar, a rather difficult process, as Woodsy was rather large for Rocky, but Rocky was willing to persist.

"Alright, now it's back to the room for us!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Bless you, Sonic," said Woodsy rather emotionally.

"Good old Sonic the Hedgehog, he's always rescuing critters," said 6.

"Yeah, that's our Sonic, and believe me, I know how Woodsy feels," agreed Ackbar. Rocky was now speed walking back to the house, even with two toys that weighed almost as much as he did, so it was definitely not good for his back, and Sonic noticed that poor Woodsy was beginning to slip from the collar that held him in his weakened state. While trying to push Woodsy back up onto Rocky's back, Sonic fell and poor Rocky didn't even notice, he just kept walking and having lost much of the weight that was on his back he ended up going faster than before.

Sonic didn't blame Rocky, after all, he was just a small Chihuahua, and was clearly struggling under the weight. Besides, he could still walk into the house whereas Woodsy had been in no state for that. So his accidental fall, to him, meant Rocky's back wouldn't give, and it was just an accident. So, he just stood upon his legs and began to walk toward the house when he heard someone coming up behind him.

"Hey, what is this?" a middle-aged man wondered out loud. He bent down to pick up Sonic. He examined Sonic carefully, but then, when he noticed the medallion around Sonic's neck, he gasped.

"I-I don't believe it! I found him! In this yard sale of all places! In good condition too! That's amazing!" he cried.

"That's not his!" exclaimed 7 angrily. The man walked up to the table that Jake's father was currently sitting at, collecting a payment for a cookie jar with Sesame Street characters.

"Find anything you fancy?" he asked the middle-aged man when he came up.

"Oh he found something, but you better not sell it to him," said Spider Spud.

"Um, yes actually, how much would you like for this?" the man asked, showing Sonic.

"Wait, is that a Sonic the Hedgehog action figure? Honey, did you pick up Jake's Sonic action figure to sell?" responded Jake's dad.

"No, and what are you talking about?" she asked, walking over to try to understand her husband. When she saw what was in the customer's hands, she was taken aback.

"Now how did he get down here? I'm sorry sir, but this is not for sale, it's an old family toy," she said, taking it out of the man's hand, and folding Sonic's legs and arms, placed it in a small safe where she and her husband were collecting profits.

"I can pay twenty-thirty! Anything!" the man offered.

"I'm sorry, but we aren't selling it. If you want one of those so badly, try ebay," said Jake's father, who got up to help a customer who was waving his arms over at an armchair.

"Excellent, Sonic is safe now," exclaimed Ackbar.

"Thanks to Jake's parents, way to go!" added Pongo. But victory was short-lived. Once both parents had their attention turned away from him, the man walked to a table that had a few kitchen appliances, and with a quick move of his hips, he knocked it over. Ducking out of the way, he waited until Jake's mother was immersed in trying to pick up what was salvageable, and then he rushed back to the table with the safe.

"Quirt squirt!" Squirtle moaned as he covered his eyes.

"How low can you get?!" cried Sirius.

"I'm going in!" yelled Ackbar. But Gimli stopped him.

"No, I will handle this you stay here!" he ordered as he jumped out the window, slid down the drainpipe and rushed to the middle-aged man, axe raised. He knew that he wouldn't be able to actually hurt the man, but maybe he could find a way to snatch Sonic. Unfortunately for him, the man was quick in getting to his car. That didn't stop Gimli he just kept running. Right before the man drove away, Gimli managed to read his license plate: TY SHK. Something about that plate definitely rang a bell.


	3. Rescue Mission

The toys were already in hot discussion about how they were supposed to deal with the loss of Sonic. It was clear that they wanted to go out and find him, but they knew that it would be difficult as the kidnapper in question would be impossible to trace. That's right about when Gimli entered the room.

"Through the doggy door and up that flight of stairs where I could have easily been spotted, but I think I may have an idea as to where Sonic might be," he grunted. Naturally everyone asked; "Where?!" so, Gimli pointed to the computer saying; "Remember the commercial for the place, the Toy Shack? Well, getting a good look at that rough-nit's license plate, it read 'TY SHK' if I'm not mistaken, that's probably where we can find Sonic."

Without hesitation, Tails jumped up to the keyboard, turned on the computer, the rest of the toy's following up to him while the computer loaded. The moment he could, Tails clicked onto the Internet and typed in 'Toy Shack" to which, lo and behold, there was a photo of the place that Pongo and Squirtle had seen on the television earlier that day. Clicking on a provided YouTube video, the toys saw the exact same commercial.

"Welcome to the Toy Shack! We're located right at the Fairview Outlet Mall!" said the man on the screen before Ackbar paused the video, and Crush was pushed up a little closer to the screen because he was the one who got the best view of the kidnapper.

"That's the dude!" he exclaimed.

"Tails, see if you can get that address on Mapquest so we can get instructions from here to there!" Ackbar ordered. Tails did as he was bidden without saying a word.

"That's where I'm going," Ackbar explained to everyone while Tails was busy getting the directions.

"What? Do you even realize just how dangerous that kind of undertaking would be?" asked Mr. Potato Head.

"Sonic once saved my life, I owe him this. If anybody wants to come along, I'd appreciate the help, if not, I will hold no grudge," said Ackbar. He was pleased when just about every toy in the room was willing to go.

"Now just so you know, I cannot take all of you, too many of us and we might draw attention. Some of you have making that might not do too well out in the streets, so I'm afraid I will have to pick some of you and if there's room, I will take a few volunteers," Ackbar responded with a laugh. The first three he selected were 7, Gimli and Spider Spud, knowing that they would be excellent fighters if the need for that came up.

Mr. Potato Head called his "son" over to him and started packing his interior carrying trunk with an extra pair of eyes with glasses, a hat, a spare nose, extra mouth, his own stick-out tongue, and an extra pair of shoes.

"Hey 7, you be careful out there, I don't like thinking about what could be out there," 6 told his friend, holding her hand in his two pointy-fingered hands.

"I will, and I promise to get Sonic back, but you don't have to worry, Admiral Ackbar is leading us," she answered.

"Uh, you two aren't about to get all kissy-face are yeh?" asked Gimli.

"Oh, no no no," they answered.

"Hey Admiral, if you give me something of Sonic's to sniff, I might be able to catch his scent and lead you guys to him faster," Pongo pointed out.

"Here, sniff me, Sonic's hugged me enough times, and whenever Jake has set us down, he's normally made sure to put us right next together, we should smell alike," offered Tails. Pongo sniffed Tails, and with a smile, nodded.

"Thanks Tails, y'know, if you come along as well, that would help me immensely. Just so I can double-check the scent along the way," he said.

"To rescue Sonic? Count me in!"

"Urtle-Squirt-Squirt," Squirtle piped up.

"Apparently Squirtle say's if Tails and I are going, he insists on coming as well," Pongo laughed.

"Y'know what? I'm coming as well, Sonic is the closest thing I have to a son (besides you Tails), I love him as much, if not more as any of you, I don't care what it takes, I'm coming, I'll break the toy oath and punch that creep in the eye if I have to," said Sirius.

"Sirius, you are definitely in, Pongo, tell Squirtle if he wants to come, he may, we may need his strength, Tails, you can come as well, if Sirius and Pongo are alright with it, but that is all I'm taking, I'm sorry, but I think this is a big enough group for a stealth mission and I daren't cause too much attention," said Ackbar, nobody argued with him, they just gave handshakes to those who would be leaving and wishes for good luck, but then everyone fell quiet. Those who were about to leave out the window looked upon the weary form of Woodsy Owl, being given assistance in his walking by Mr. Potato Head.

"Hey guys, you just gotta get my pal Sonic back," was all he said.

"We will do our best Woodsy, that's a promise," said Tails, saluting the old owl. They then filed out the window, and using a Barrel of Monkeys, climbed down the house. Everyone else was filled with positivity, with Admiral Ackbar leading the way, the group was sure to succeed, and they would be safe.

Meanwhile…

At Ernie Gregson's apartment (yes, that was the name of the owner of the Toy Shack) Sonic was on display in a glass case, Ernie, in the meanwhile was talking to someone over the phone.

"Yes, Mr. Konichi, I am positive that I have found the authentic thing! Yes, I will be there before the week is out! What's that? Oh, yeah, I can fax you some photos of the collection, that's not a problem. Well, I actually have to get over to work right about now, but I'll be sure to call you up when I'm ready to fax them. Yeah thanks, bye now!" he then walked over to Sonic saying: "You are going to make me rich! Filthy rich, you blue hedgehog!" He then left, grumbling about the traffic.

The moment Ernie left the room Sonic came out of his dormant state, terrified. It had been years since he had been put in an enclosed space such as a box. He had forgotten what it had been like. Fortunately, he was able to effortlessly open the glass case and run to the window. Looking out, it had to be fifteen stories from the ground, jumping from this height was out of the question. So he walked around the room, hoping for some means of escape. He also cheered at the sight of an air duct. Back at the house, he and his friends often had fun exploring the air ducts. This would be vastly different, but it might be the best choice he had.

Suddenly, he heard movement from the back of the room he looked back and saw an open cardboard box. He started moving cautiously worried that something was about to jump him. Well, he would never shake off the feeling of surprise he got when somebody hugged him from behind.

"Brother! You're here! Now the band's back together!" a wisecracked voice exclaimed.

"Hey! Get off me you freak!" Sonic yelled. He jerked his whole body to the side violently causing whatever was on his back to fall off. He didn't really pay close enough attention to what it was. All he saw was a green figure. Then he turned around and there was a fuchsia-colored hedgehog. She was around his height, a little slimmer though, and she also had a medallion of some kind around her neck. She just stood there, almost dumbfounded, but before Sonic could say a word, she ran right up to hug him.

"Sonic! We were beginning to lose hope that you'd never find us!" she cried.

"Look, I don't know-Wait! How exactly do you know my name?" he responded, trying to break free of her grasp. He then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I know this might seem a bit much for you right now, but everything will be explained shortly," said a calm, feminine voice. Sonic turned his head around, and there, wearing a red cloak was a tall, purple hedgehog, wearing a gold crown upon her head. Sonic just looked at her, she seemed alright, in fact, he almost as though he should know her, even though he had never seen her before. He decided the first thing he had to do was calm down.

"Wh-who are all of you?" he asked. The green figure stood up, and just looked over at Sonic. Now Sonic could get an excellent look at this individual. He had a very similar body build to him; but wore an orange vest, had a different hair design, and wore a medallion that was in the shape of a circle.

"We're your family bro, Sonya, y'might wanna let go of him, give the dude space to breathe," he said. The fuchsia-colored hedgehog loosened her grip on him, and simply placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, if you're my family, then how come I don't know who any of you are?" he asked. The other hedgehogs nodded at each other.

"You probably don't even know who you are now, do you? Well, before we get too far ahead, I am Queen Aleena, your mother," the tall hedgehog answered.

"I am Sonya, your sister, and the green one over there is Manic, our brother, we're triplets," said Sonya, while Manic ran over to the box and started banging on it.

"Hey guys, the main attraction has arrived!" he called. He then ran out of the way as the box was tipped over. The first thing to come out was a rather small lion, a tall, grey wolf-like fellow and large orange dog creature and then two boxes. The lion was the first to approach Sonic.

"Look Sonic, I know you're not likely to really remember me, but when we were in the show, it was established that we were best friends, I'm Cyrus by the way," he said. Manic and Queen Aleena grabbed one of the boxes, and held it upright, there, inside the box was a green armadillo-esque creature wearing a purple cloak.

"Ah, it would appear that my predictions have come true, we are now a complete set, by the way, I am known by many as the Oracle of Delphi.

"Greetings, blue one, my name is Sleet, and this idiot right here is Dingo, in the show we were the villains, but considering you might be our ticket out of here, we're willing to call a truce," the wolf-like creature said.

"You blathering idiots! Get me up! I can't really do it myself in this box!" a voice called from the box that was still facedown on the ground. Sleet and Dingo walked over and picked it up. Sonic knew the figure inside, in the video games Jake played, his counterpart always battled him. It was his arch nemesis, Robotnik.

"I never thought I'd be happy to see you, my little blue friend," he said. Sonic was about to shout when he noticed something about the two boxes. They both read 'Sonic Underground.' Now he was very confused.

Luckily for him, his confusion was short-lived. Cyrus and Sonya popped a DVD into the TV. After pressing the play button, Sonic witnessed something he would never have expected.

"Triplets born! The throne awaits! A seer warns of a deadly fate! Give up your children, separate! Bide your time, lie and wait! Sonic Underground! Sonic Underground! They made a vow their mother will be found!"

Later on…

After watching a few episodes of the show that he had clearly been a part of, Sonic understood his relationship with these individuals. He also understood why he had that medallion. He assumed now that when he had first been given to Mike, he was part of the toy line as well, and that fact didn't seem important enough to tell Jake.

They had skipped over a few episodes for reasons of time convenience, but after watching this one episode where he and Manic had succeeded in passing a computer simulation, Queen Aleena turned off the TV.

"Hey! Hey! C'mon, I knew we weren't going to watch every episode, but can we at least watch the series finale?" he asked.

"That was the series finale, the show was cancelled after that," explained Manic sadly.

"Aw c'mon, all the action, vast array of characters, the music, the basic plot, that was awesome!" answered Sonic.

"I'll tell you what happened: ratings. The show just couldn't hold up to the older show simply entitled: 'Sonic the Hedgehog.' Plus, it didn't get as good an audience," explained Sonya.

"Wow, y'know, I never really saw myself as the hero of a TV series. Back home, Mike, Bill, and Jake just played the videogames," said Sonic sadly.

"Wait! You mean you still have an owner?!" screeched Dingo.

"Yeah, Jake, my buddy, and I've got friends there too, I mean, don't you guys have owners?" asked Sonic.

"Some of us had them, the Oracle and Robotnik never really had been played with, they're mint in the box, but what you don't understand, is that with you, we're a complete set, and Ernie can now bring us to this Toy Museum," Aleena answered.

"A museum?! No, I have to get back to Jake!" said an alarmed Sonic.

"What?! No, no, no! I can't stand another day in storage! It's bad for my complexion, and worse, it's so dark!" screamed Sonya as she hugged her mother.

"What's her problem?" asked Sonic.

"Well see, the museum's only interested in the collection if we're all in it, especially you Sonic. We've been waiting for months for you to come, and here you are now, we were hoping that we'd be able to see sunlight again, and be able to be seen by children," explained Cyrus. All of a sudden, they heard someone coming into the room.

"We have to get back into the box, otherwise it will look suspicious, Sonic, back to your case," barked Sleet. It took some persuasion with Sonya, but they all jumped back into the box, and Sonic lost no time getting back to where Ernie left him.

Speaking of Ernie, he came in holding a camera and all he said was: "It's show time!" He first took the various action figures out of the cardboard box, and then got Sonic out of the glass case and set him amongst the other action figures. He proceeded to take various photographs of the action figures in different poses.


	4. The story continues

The rescue party had been walking all night, using the aid of street lamps and lightning bugs to find their way on the map Tails had printed out. It was morning now, and they were absolutely beat, but they just kept on going. They had a mission, and there was nothing that would stand in their way from rescuing Sonic.

"Hey guys, do you think we could just take a break from walking, I kinda want to change my feet, these one's are just killing me right about now," asked Spider Spud.

"Sure, that will give me time to check the map again, make sure we're going on the right path, and make sure we're still together," Ackbar agreed.

"Would you just come on you crazy turtle!?" Sirius' voice rang out. Tails and Pongo looked back to see Sirius holding Squirtle's hand, and poking the Pokémon in the back with a stick he found.

"Now Sirius, is that really necessary?" asked Ackbar.

"He refuses to move, and I'm just trying to get him going," Sirius complained.

"Squirtle squirtle quirtle quirtle," said Squirtle.

"He say's that he's sorry, and that he only remained still because he thought he saw the kidnapper's car and was trying to keep it in eyesight," translated Pongo.

"You managed to get all that from so little?" asked 7.

"Hey, I find that sometimes, the smallest words can say the most," laughed Pongo. 7 nodded in agreement and walked over to Squirtle and gently stroked his head.

"Hey buddy, I understand your intention, but finding the car isn't really going to help, okay buddy? We have to find the Toy Shack," she told him. Squirtle nodded in understanding.

"Hey fella's? Why did the toy's cross the road?" asked Gimli, who had walked up ahead.

"Gimli, now is really not the right time," answered Spider Spud, who got back up on his spare feet.

"I love a good joke, why?" asked Tails, as they all started to move forward.

"To get to the Toy Shack," Gimli answered, using his walking axe to point across the street, and there it was, the Fairview Outlet Mall. Everyone cheered until a car came cruising by and hit a Styrofoam cup that was in the middle of the road. When the car passed, all that was there was a few shredded pieces and some white dots scattering in the car's wake. Some of them bounced over to where the toys were. 7 bent down and scooped some up.

"So Admiral, what's the back-up plan?" she asked, showing him the slightly blackened bits of Styrofoam.

"Well, there has to be a way, we didn't come all this way for nothing," he said.

"Hey Tails, Gimli, you guys like riddles, answer me this one; why did the toys board the bus?" asked Sirius.

"I really have no clue, tell us," answered Gimli.

"Because it too was headed to the Fairview Outlet Mall!" laughed Sirius as he pointed to a bus that said: "Senior Assisted Living." At the door was a handwritten sign that said: "Shuttle to Fairview Outlet Mall."

"Quickly, everybody grab some place to hold onto under the bus!" ordered Ackbar. Everybody ran as fast as their various-sized legs would let them. Fortunately for them, the bus was large, so finding a spot on the axles to grab onto was not difficult. However, the smaller toys did need help getting lifted. Squirtle had to be boosted up by both 7 and Pongo.

They moved quickly, knowing the light could change at any second. They managed themselves without a second to spare. As soon as they were all on one of the axles, the bus started moving. They held on for dear life as the pavement moved beneath them. Not one of them dared to move, partly out of fear. You could have felt the sense of relief that spread out amongst them when they felt the bus turn. They felt it then move into a parking spot, and they could feel the brakes being put on right beneath their hands. Not wanting to waste time, they jumped off and ran once more as far away from the bus as possible.

"Alright, now that we're here, we have to find the Toy Shack, the sooner, the better," said Ackbar.

"Uh, why don't you just look at the store right next to us?" asked Tails while pointing up to the right of them. Everyone looked to where he was a pointing, there in big friendly letters were the words: "Toy Shack."

"Well, that certainly ruins the search part of a search and rescue, but it sure is efficient," grumbled Gimli.

"Quickly boy's we gotta get in!" said 7. But when they got up to the door, they stopped dead in their tracks.

"Well, that's just dandy, the place is closed," said Spider Spud.

"You know we can read, right Spuddie?" asked Sirius, crossing his arms.

"We could try going through the air vent," suggested Pongo.

"Guys! Somebody's coming! We gotta hide!" shrieked Tails.

Luckily for them, there were some bushes nearby that they were able to run into and cower down. They looked up and saw a teenager with a polo shirt come up and unlock the doors. He then pushed a handicapped button, which caused them to open up automatically. When the teenager was inside, 7 dashed from her hiding spot and holding her spear parallel to the ground, she used it as a type of wedge to stop the doors from actually closing.

"Quickly now fellas, I don't think it will hold for long and someone's bound to notice!" she commanded. Naturally the rest of the toys were halfway to her and when the last one (Tails) was in, she released her spear and rolled into the store.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Tails.

"Well that's very easy, we split up, in hopes of covering more ground, and meet up after we've covered all the aisles, and see if we've found Sonic," answered Ackbar.

"Now, let me see here, Spuddie, why don't you pair up with Tails. 7, you're with me. Sirius and Gimli you guys will be going together," Ackbar decided.

"Squirlte-squirtle?" asked Squirtle.

"Oh, I just figured that you and Pongo will have to be partnered up anyway, so I didn't think it necessary to announce you," answered Ackbar.

"You understand him?" asked Pongo, surprised.

"I think it's just safe to guess what he's thinking," Ackbar explained as he and 7 walked away. As did everyone else searching in different aisles at different ends of the store.

Not long after…

Tails and Spider Spud were making relatively slow progress. Walking down an aisle full of sporting balls baseball bats, hockey pucks and sticks, and other smaller sports equipment.

"Y'know Spuddie, I can't help but wonder why it is that Ackbar chose to pair us up together, I mean, don't get me wrong, you're an awesome guy, and I do enjoy hanging around with you, it's just that I find his choice in partners interesting," said Tails, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"I think he just wanted to give us a bit of bonding time, which I think is rather nice," he said. With Tails, Spider Spud was often very quiet, he liked that young fox, thought he was a cool guy, but he didn't normally enjoy showing his softer side to those he thought were younger than him. But they would regularly play chess or checkers with each other, which Spider Spud considered to be more serious-type games, and Tails liked having him as a chess buddy, their intellect often clicked.

All of a sudden, they heard something coming up from behind them. Spider Spud grabbed Tails, and slinging the young fox over his head, ran to the side of the aisle. But it just turned out to be a small remote-controlled car. With Sirius operating the controls, and Gimli behind the wheel, clearly trying to look cool (and succeeding).

"Just figured we'd be able to cover more ground this way," said Sirius.

"Y'wanna ride with us?" asked Gimli. Spider Spud gave Gimli a gentle push and elected to sit behind the wheel himself. Tails got next to Sirius and asked if he could drive. Considering Tails was known to fly aircraft in the videogames, Sirius let him.

"Sorry for my heave-ho there Gimli, my friend, but I think you had your fun, now it's some other toy's turn," apologized Spider Spud to the dwarf.

"We're cool, vegetable boy," said Gimli in a matter-of-factly voice. Granted, Spider Spud and Gimli never considered themselves close, but that never meant they didn't enjoy joking around with each other occasionally. They were going through the Lego aisle when they spotted 7 and Ackbar.

"What do you think you're doing on foot? Hop aboard!" inquired Tails. Ackbar was able to squeeze in between Spider Spud and Gimli, whereas 7 was forced to stand on the tail end of the car and use insert her spear behind one of the seats and use it to balance her. Off they went once more. When Ackbar raised his hand.

"I just realized something, exactly how are we going to fit Pongo and Squirtle onto this car? Or even Sonic for that matter?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm sure something will be figured out," answered Sirius, trying to be reassuring, but he understood the Admiral's concerns. But it turned out, they didn't need to worry about that. When they found Squirtle and Pongo, they were standing right in front of a door that was labeled: "Office."

"I'll bet anything that's the kidnapper's office, and if we find him, we're sure to find Sonic," said Pongo.

"Squirt squirtle tle?" asked Squirtle.

"Well obviously, one of us is probably going to have to get up to the handle put enough pressure on it to turn, and hope the thing's unlocked," answered Pongo.

"Here's an idea, 7, if I grab one end of your spear, and you spin around fast enough to lift me, and I were to let go at exactly the right moment, I could soar through the air and grab the door handle," suggested Spider Spud.

"That's not a bad idea Spuddie, but why don't you let me do it? I'm a plushie, and if I miss and hit the ground, I can get back up without damage, you have a lot of spare parts, and could fall apart, or worse," volunteered Tails. Everyone nodded in agreement, 7 with a bit of a smile. So, with Tails taking one end of her spear, 7 began to spin around as fast as she could.

"I just have to time this right," thought Tails. He let go when he had good velocity and felt he was pointing towards the doorknob. He felt himself soaring right up to the doorknob, and the moment he could, he grabbed it. With the amount of pressure he instantly put on it, the doorknob moved down and caused the door to open.

"Guy really should learn to lock his door," laughed Sirius. Tails jumped back down where he was caught by the open arms of Squirtle. They headed in. It was decorated more in the fashion of a cubicle than an office. A non-expensive desk, a cactus, a fax machine, a clunky laptop, there were a few boxes, a calendar, some action figures still in their boxes ("I feel really sorry for those guys," said Gimli.), a fax machine, and a jar of M&M's.

"Alright, it would appear that we're going to have to go through the boxes, so you best get on it. Pongo, I want you to keep watch," ordered Ackbar. Pongo stood by the door at attention and told Squirtle to go with Ackbar. While everyone else was going through the boxes, Spider Spud climbed up on the desk, because he spotted a Darth Tater figure that he figured might be willing to help.

"Uh, greetings, my starchy brethren, have you by any chance seen a small blue hedgehog?" he asked.

"You dare question the might of the Dark Lord of the Tots?" Darth Tater asked.

"What? No, I'm just asking if you saw a buddy of mine recently," said Spider Spud, his hands raised.

"Oh yes, old Ernie was talking about a hedgehog he found recently, but, knowing you're a hero, I still have the urge to fight you," Darth Tater answered, and came at Spider Spud with his light saber raised, but, with his agility, Spider Spud stepped out of the way, and grabbed Darth Tater's cape. By doing this, it caused Darth Tater fall backwards and his mask to fall off.

"Darn you, you stupid bug!" he screeched.

"Don't feel so bad about it," laughed Spider Spud who tossed the cape to the side and walked away. Meanwhile, Sirius came up to help Pongo with his lookout job.

"Say Pongo, you have a lot of kids right, at least in your film, right," he asked, to which Pongo nodded.

"Well, considering I am something of Sonic's adopted father, I just cannot help but wonder if I am doing a bad job of parenting, especially because all I really did when he was kidnapped was stay where I was while Gimli actually tried to rescue him," Sirius continued.

"Well my friend, I can tell you right now, you're not a bad parent. You're on this quest aren't you? My wife and I had to go on a quest to rescue our little one's when they were kidnapped. So considering you went this far, to try to rescue him, I'd say that makes you as good a father as any. And I wouldn't worry about that moment when that idiot grabbed him. There was nothing any of us could have done, Gimli, while being brave, had a slim chance of success," Pongo answered. Just then, they heard the sound of someone coming.

"Everybody hide!" ordered Ackbar. They all scampered to find a place to hide together, luckily, Gimli found a spot behind a box that they felt they could use, especially after dragging it closer to another box.

Ernie came into the room holding a couple of photographs, and talking on his cell phone. They noted that he was heading toward the fax machine.

"Yeah, that sounds good Mr. Konichi, I should be able to have them safely in Japan by tomorrow. Are you standing by your fax machine? Excellent, because, just as I promised, I'm faxing the photo's right now," he was saying, while loading the photos (very carefully) into the fax machine. What he failed to realize, was that one of them had fallen to the ground after being processed. Spider Spud detached one of his arms, laid it on the ground, and it snaked its way to the photo. Grabbing the photo, the arm snaked its way back to the friends. Sirius gently grabbed a corner and held it up for everyone to see. It was a picture of Sonic! Unhurt, and in the same condition as they last saw him. What they did not understand were the green and pink figures standing to either side of him.

"Who do you suppose the other two hedgehogs are?" asked 7 in a hushed voice.

"We'll just have to worry about that when we get Sonic, right now, we've got to figure out a way for this guy to bring us to him," replied Sirius.

"Yes, I do have the series on DVD, and the very hard to find album with the songs. What's that? Well, I already figured that since you wanted the action figure line up, you would also be interested in those items, so I've already taken the liberty of packing them. What? You're saying that there's a possibility of adding a few more zeroes to our original price? That's great! Thank you so much!" said Ernie who then did a happy dance the second he got off his phone.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" asked Tails.

"I think Ernie over there is planning to take Sonic to Japan," answered Gimli.

"But, why would he even want to do that?" asked 7.

"Hey boss, there's a guy out front who needs your signature!" a voice called from outside.

"Alright, I'll be right there, just a second!" Ernie called, going over to a cabinet he pulled out a large briefcase.

"I'm going to need that very soon," he said to himself before heading out the door.

"Does the phrase deus ex machina mean anything to anyone?" asked Pongo.

"Squirt," answered Squirtle.

"I didn't really expect it to mean anything to you old buddy, but I think our best chance of getting to Sonic might be that suitcase," explained Pongo.

"Wait! Doesn't the phrase 'trap' mean anything to you?" asked Ackbar.

"Please, that idiot doesn't know we're here, and he seems so delighted with getting rich I doubt he's going to notice the weight," answered Spider Spud.

"Besides, as Pongo said, it might be our one chance to get Sonic back," agreed Tails. It was agreed, they all rushed to the briefcase, Sirius and Ackbar opened the latches and it flung open. They rushed in, and 7, being the tallest and standing on Squirtle's back, was able to reach the top part of the opening, by hooking her spear onto the handle, and managed to bring it down, and then, without locking it, closed the briefcase. They stayed perfectly still as they heard Ernie come back into the room and they felt themselves being picked up and carried. They did not say a word, and just looked up, praying that they did not get caught.

Meanwhile…

While the toys from Jake's room were searching the Toy Shack, the toys in Ernie's apartment were in a very somber mood. A group of black Styrofoam pads with indents in them had been placed rather haphazardly across the floor. Looking at the indents, everyone knew that was what Ernie was going to use to transport them to this Toy Museum. But Sonic still felt unsure about this toy museum idea.

"Look guys, Jake cares for me, he loves me, and if I can't be there for him, then what's the purpose of life, really?" Sonic tried to explain.

"He's your best bud, when you play together, it's as though that's the only thing that matters," agreed Sonya.

"I'm sorry?" asked a bewildered Sonic.

"Sonya and I had the same owner, Jessie. She loved us too. She played with us; we were the subject of many adventures in her bedroom and were invited to a fair number of tea parties as well. Getting to meet with her friends toys during play dates and sleepovers were also fun because of the extra playmates we could hang out with. But then, when she was about twelve, she put us in a shoebox, and we felt ourselves being pushed under the bed," Aleena explained.

"We would regularly peer out of that box, hoping that at some point, we'd have a chance to be enjoyed, feel as though we were loved again. But, we saw from our viewpoint, that the outlook of her room changed drastically, then one day, we felt our box move, we thought that perhaps we were going to get played with once more. I still remember that when the lid was opened, Jessie looked surprised. She picked mother and myself up ever so gently, like she used to. She was older now, and we just didn't know what to expect. She placed us back in the box, and picked it up, carrying it gently. I still remember her whispering: 'You were good friends, but perhaps someone else needs you now,' we didn't understand, next thing we knew, we were in a donation pile for Goodwill. The last time we ever saw her, was when she drove away," continued Sonya who looked just plain miserable.

"You don't forget the times you had with Jake's and Jessie's, but eventually, they'll forget you," said Aleena who hugged Sonya comfortingly.

"Guys, I'd hoped you'd understand," said Sonic. The two women just looked away. Sonic then turned to his green brother.

"Yeah, I had an owner, Ryan was his name. He was into sports, especially hockey and skateboarding. I remember riding on his fingerboards, and being placed on his nightstand. But, he got older, and was more into video games now. I got sold at a yard sale (yeah, I know what that's like) but the guy who bought me was a college-age student who just displayed toys. I sat upon a small shelf for almost three years, displayed amongst other action figures that had some pretty interesting stories of their own. But, in the end, we were all sold again. That's when Ernie found me. I've just been passed on so many times I was hoping to finally settle down. But if you want to go, you go on ahead, brother," said Manic. Sonic did not have the heart to look at Cyrus, Sleet and Dingo.

"Think about it Sonic," said Robotnik, "I know I'm the villain and I shouldn't be giving you advice, but do you think Jake will take you to college, or his honeymoon? He's growing up, you can't stop that, nobody can. You have two options, go back and be with him for however long that will last. Or you can stick with us, and be adored forever by hundreds of children and adults." Sonic looked around at the group who without him, would likely be put back in a box, and he smiled.

"Who am I, to break up the band? I mean clearly you guys need me, and perhaps I can be a star. I'm staying," he said. Everyone looked up, any misery that was on their faces before had been wiped clean away.


	5. Reunion and Dismissal

The toys who were in Ernie's suitcase felt all of the movements associated with being put in a car, driven somewhere, being picked up again, and carried. They heard the sound of an elevator. They heard a door open, and then felt them selves being flung onto a soft surface unceremoniously.

"I should probably take a shower, yeah, that seems like a good idea," said Ernie. They heard a door slam shut.

"Allow me to deal with this," said 7. Before anyone could ask what she was talking about, she slipped the blade part of her spear into an opening below the part where the suitcase opened, and open it did.

"You keep a good hand on that spear, 7," laughed Sirius.

"It's been most useful on this trip, saving our butts," added Spider Spud. One by one, each of the toys slid down to the ground.

"Okay, Sonic's got to be here, so we have to move quickly," said Ackbar.

"Hey fella's, I think I hear something," said Pongo, who walked over to ventilation duct, and pressed his ear against it. Slowly, they all pressed their ears against the grate as well. It was a conglomerate of various voices, but they did manage to make a few snippets of what they thought could be Sonic.

"How're we supposed to get to him?" asked Tails. He had no sooner said that then Gimli stepped forward, gently pushed him back, handed Sirius his walking axe, took out one of his smaller axes, and used it to loosen up the screws until they both fell right off.

"You're not the only one who's handy with tools, 7," Gimli joked, 7 just smiled and rolled her eyes upward.

"Uh okay, what exactly do you have in mind?" asked Ackbar.

"Easy, we just go through the ducts, using Pongo's hearing, we find Sonic, and surprise him and anyone who might be holding him captive. Plus, this way, we can sneak out of the building without being seen once we find Sonic," answered Gimli. Everyone nodded in agreement, so with Pongo leading, they went in. Spider Spud made sure to close the grate behind them. Luckily, it didn't take long for Pongo to turn and they came to another grate. Now they could actually hear Sonic more clearly. They heard a few other voices as well.

"Allow me to take a look," volunteered Spider Spud who, pulling his mask down enough for him to reach his detachable eyes, he took them off, and holding them tightly in his hands, slid them through the openings.

"What're they doing?" asked a very curious Tails. Well, Spider Spud didn't answer for a moment, he just squinted. He saw two figures bending over Sonic, but he could only tell that by the blue arms and legs that would occasionally pop up from behind a black box.

"I think they're torturing him! We gotta help him!" answered Spider Spud.

"Squirtle!" came a rather demanding voice from behind everyone. They looked back to see Squirtle backing up on his hands and knees.

"Everybody, get behind the turtle now!" warned Pongo in an alarmed voice. 7 had to grab Spider Spud by one of his arms because he was still holding onto his eyes and struggling to put them back in their sockets. Gimli tripped over himself in the confusion and got dragged the rest of the way to behind Squirtle by Sirius and Tails. Once everybody was safely behind him, Squirtle charged at the grate, and hit it with such force, it opened immediately, the bottom two screws flying off. Squirtle had never been more grateful to be made out of rubber; he shook his head trying to clear his mind while the rest of his comrades stormed right out from behind him.

"Guys?! What are you doing here?!" asked a very surprised Sonic.

"This, is a rescue mission!" answered Sirius, who immediately jumped up on Sonic, and held him down, trying to protect him. Then everything seemed to be happening all at once.

"Let's see you try to get out of this one!" said Pongo who jumped up on the Oracle's box causing it to fall down the Oracle was helpless to do anything. Tails approached Robotnik's box, and smiled.

"Looks as though you're on the wrong side of the cage!" laughed Tails, who kicked the box down, and Robotnik, much like the Oracle, was helpless to stop his fall.

"Dingo, would you mind dealing with the tall one?" Sleet asked his mindless assistant, pointing at 7.

"Why?" asked Dingo in a whiny voice.

"Do it!" Sleet demanded. Dingo approached 7, shaking. He was dead scared, primarily because she was taller than him, had what looked like a bird skull for a mask and carried a spear. Without hesitation, a quick move of her spear and she knocked him off his feet.

"Hardly a decent opponent," she laughed. Sleet started to run off, but suddenly his cape was flung over his head, and he tripped over something. He couldn't tell, but that was Gimli's doing. He pulled the shaft end of his axe away and laughed.

"I didn't even have to use this properly," he joked. Meanwhile, Spider Spud grabbed both Manic and Cyrus by the collars and held them right across from each other.

"Two heads are better than one!" he said and knocked them right at each other. Ackbar and Squirtle meanwhile were dealing with Aleena and Sonya.

"I normally prefer not to strike a lady-" he didn't get to finish his sentence because Sonya kicked him right in the chest.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked in a sneering voice. But with great speed, Ackbar swung his foot right at her legs, knocking her down. Squirtle rushed over to help his friend, and ran right into Aleena, she fell down.

Finally, Sonic couldn't take it any longer. He nudged Sirius, making it clear that he wanted to get up. Sirius let him, because he thought Sonic would want to walk out himself. Nothing could have prepared Sirius for what Sonic said.

"Guys, cut this out! I don't need to be rescued!" The rest of the toys looked up at Sonic. The toys from Jake's room came over to him, Sonic made sure to ruffle the short fur on Tails' and Pongo's heads.

"What are you talking about? I looked through the grate, I saw them torturing you!" exclaimed Spider Spud.

"They were tickling me, and if you can't notice, I am fine, perfectly alright," said Sonic.

"Perfectly alright? That guy who stole you, he's taking you to some kind of toy museum, we have to get you out of here!" said Ackbar in an alarmed voice.

"I know, I actually want to go," answered Sonic. His old friends looked at him in surprise.

"Would it be possible for someone here to pop in the old show, at least for a moment?" asked Sonic. Sonya and Cyrus nodded and made the necessary actions to play the DVD. Once again, the theme song to Sonic Underground played through the room. Needless to say, the toys from Jake's room were fascinated.

"You see, I was part of a line that was based off from this show, and the museum is only interested in the collection if I'm in it as well. Without me, these guys are going to go back into storage, probably forever," explained Sonic.

"Sonic, you are not a collector's item, you are a toy, a child play thing," Ackbar answered.

"Oh really, for how much longer, Jake's going to grow up, outgrow me, and eventually, he will have no further use of me, what am I supposed to do then?" asked Sonic in a demanding voice.

"Sonic, we'll do what all loved toys have done, we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it. We're your family, we love you, Jake loves you, his brother still loves you, I mean, you are my brother," said Tails, pleading to Sonic.

"Brother? There was a time when I was all right with that, but look at us, look at how different we are! We are not brothers!" said Sonic angrily, he then pointed over to Sonya and Manic. "You see those two, they are my brother, and my sister, Manic and Sonya, and I'm sorry, but I can't turn my back on them!" he said.

Here, Tails was crushed. Being a simple plush toy, he lacked the ability to produce tears. Nonetheless he ran right over to Sirius, and hugged him, making sniffling sounds. As a good father figure, Sirius hugged him back, trying to comfort him. He wanted nothing more than to hoist Tails up into his arms. But, alas, Tails was almost half his weight, he couldn't. But he still gave Sonic a rough scowl.

"Look at yourself Sonic, you made Tails cry," he scolded. Then Gimli walked over to Sonic, he was roughly Sonic's height, so he could look Sonic in the eye properly.

"Y'know, somewhere in that plastic shell there's a toy who once told me how much a toy's life was worthwhile when loved by a child. We all came a long way to find that toy, and bring him back home, because those words rang true in our hearts," he said, gently tapping his axe against Sonic's chest.

"Well, you've all just wasted your time," said Sonic bitterly as he just turned his back on the dwarf. Ackbar put his hand on Gimli's shoulder.

"Come everyone, we're going home," he said.

"What about Sonic?" asked Spider Spud.

"Apparently he's not coming with us," Ackbar answered.

"But Jake's coming home on Saturday night, that's two days from now," said Pongo. It was Sirius who answered, still trying to comfort Tails.

"Then we best make sure we're there waiting for him," was all he said. Before stepping back into the air duct, Tails was the only one who looked back, even from the sanctuary of Sirius' arm. 7 and Ackbar were the last to leave.

"I'm sorry guys, but this is my one chance," said Sonic, trying not to depart on a sour note.

"For what, to be looked at by people through a glass pane and never be loved again? Some kind of life you want," answered Ackbar angrily before stepping into the air duct, giving 7 a nod. She just looked at Sonic; it was not a look of anger, but of remorse as she closed the grate.

"Sonic, are you alright? That may have been a little rough," said Aleena, trying to counsel her son.

"Sonic, you done well, I thought they might never leave," said Sleet, trying to be encouraging. But Sonic didn't look at them; he just sat down in front of the television to watch the episode currently playing. He saw himself, his siblings, and Cyrus come to a place called 'sanctuary.' Then, one of the songs began to play.

"Nothing's quite as beautiful as the laughter of a child.

Or the wonder inside every little smile

Maybe love and hope and tenderness or laughter soon will leave

Children want a world to grow where they feel free.

Teach the children, light the way

Help them make a better day

Show them how to help each other when they fall

Learning how to get along

To show love, yet be strong…"

As the song continued playing, Sonic found himself in deep thought. It was true, having lived in a house with three boys for years, he had found nothing compared to the laughter of children. Whenever Mike or Jake felt down, lonely, or just plain sad, he was there to help make their day better. Help them get right back up whenever they fell. He had seen great wonder within their smiling faces.

"What am I doing?" he finally asked himself. He jumped right up and went right up to Robotnik, even at the time he found that to be ironic.

"You're right Robotnik, Jake's growing up, and while I can't stop it, I wouldn't miss it for the world!" he exclaimed.

"Sonic!" exclaimed Manic, horrified.

"Am I right to assume this is bad?" asked Dingo.

"Sonic, you're making a terrible mistake!" exclaimed Robotnik. But no, despite their pleas, Sonic was already at the opening for the air duct, he lifted the grate, stepped in and called:

"Ackbar, Sirius, Tails, guys! Wait!" His pals from Jake's room stopped and looked back, where there had once been sorrow, a small kindling of hope had begun to burn in their hearts upon hearing Sonic call out to them.

"I'm coming with you! Oh, but just gimme a minute!" he called to them right before heading back into the room. Now that they knew Sonic was coming with them, the toys cheered, even Tails' spirits were lifted.

"I'm proud of you, kiddo!" Sirius called to Sonic. Back in the room, Sonic approached his new friends and family.

"Come with me," he requested. Everyone looked at him with surprise.

"Jake will take us all in, play with us, love us all, care for us, I mean Mom, Sonya, wouldn't you two give anything to spend one more day with Jessie?" he continued.

"What do you say, are you with me?" he asked everyone.

"Well, I remember how much fun it was being played with, and if I could have that experience once more, I'm with you Sonic," volunteered Cyrus.

"You mean, a chance to be taken out of my box, and to be played with, and loved by a child, count me in," the Oracle agreed.

"Well, what have we truly got to lose, I mean if you're going home, I guess we either follow you or storage, and I think Dingo and I would like not to have to go back into that box," said Sleet logically, Dingo simply nodded in agreement. Robotnik and Manic were nowhere to be seen, and Sonic noticed that Robotnik's box had been turned facing away from them.

"C'mon guys, are you with me?" Sonic asked as he turned the box around, but when it got to the side view, nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. Manic was unconscious, and some of his tools that he always had on his belt were missing. Looking into Robotnik's box, everyone (they were all looking in that direction) saw he wasn't there either. Then they heard the sound of screws being fastened. They turned around and saw Robotnik, outside of his box, using Manic's screwdriver to refasten the screws that held the grate in place.

"Dr. Robotnik?! You're out of your box!" exclaimed Sonya.

"I reasoned with you the first time, Sonic, but it appears that didn't last, so now I guess I have to use force," he explained. None too gently, he picked up an unconscious Manic and threw him unceremoniously into the black pad that was going to take him to Japan. Ironically, he did put Manic's accessories into their proper places in the pad.

"I intend to keep myself in mint condition, and quite frankly, that's impossible when owned by a kid. I've waited a long time to go to this museum, and there's no way anyone's going to stop me," Robotnik continued. As he said this, he walked over to the TV remote and turned off the DVD player.

"Y'know something? You are Robuttnik, you really are," said Sonic.

"Boss, this is cruel, you know that?" complained Sleet.

"Cruel? I'll tell you what's cruel, sitting on a shelf, every day, watching every other toy around you get picked up and taken to the cash register!" snarled Robotnik who effortlessly picked up his box and threw it into the pad before proceeding to get back in it himself. On the other side of the grate, Jake's toys all gathered around.

"Robuttnik fastened these tight, man!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Squirtle, would you be willing to use your head once again?" asked Sirius.

"Squirt," was the response.

"If you're wondering, that meant 'sure'," said Pongo. But it was too late. They all heard Ernie coming in. Those who were on the room side of the grate had no choice but to go motionless. Those who were still in the air duct elected to step back. They watched helplessly as Ernie gently scooped all of the action figures into their pads, and then load them into the suitcase that had earlier brought them into the apartment. Tails could not help but notice that the last three action figures he put into the suitcase were Sonic and the two that were still in their boxes.

"All righty then, two suitcases and a brief case, better make sure the DVD's out of the player, don't know why, but that seems a good thing to make sure after watching a few episodes recently. Oh, well look at that," he said to himself while performing a few final actions.

"Well, I best get going now, don't wanna miss the flight," Ernie continued to himself before leaving.

"I say get out the way we came in, and give that guy a beating he'll never forget!" suggested Gimli.

"No, it is against the laws of toys, if he finds out about us being alive, the results could be catastrophic," warned Pongo.

"Friends, this is an apartment building, it has an elevator, ergo, it has an elevator shaft, and considering the amount of luggage that guy has, he's going to use the elevator. With any luck this air shaft will lead us to that elevator shaft, henceforth, we rescue Sonic," said Sirius in a rather snarky yet stern voice. Everyone looked at him with a questionable look.

"Before Jake found me at that rummage sale, I lived in an apartment, come on!" said Sirius, who then began to jog away from the grate, waving his hand in a manner of saying 'follow me.' Everyone there followed him. For about a minute, they ran in a straight line until they heard a loud grating sound. Sirius stretched out his arms, using body language to tell them to stop. He turned left, and they saw a large opening with cables moving vertically. Sirius stretched out his arm, palm facing his friends as they saw a large rectangular box come up to them.

"Everyone, this is an elevator," said Sirius. Everyone hopped aboard Sirius brought them to what looked like a small door. Gimli and Spider Spud got on either side and quietly lifted it up. Looking down, they saw Ernie with all of his luggage come in, and just turn around and press a button and just stood facing the door.


	6. Chase to the airport

"Everyone, this is an elevator," said Sirius. Everyone hopped aboard Sirius brought them to what looked like a small door. Gimli and Spider Spud got on either side and quietly lifted it up. Looking down, they saw Ernie with all of his luggage come in, and just turn around and press a button and just stood facing the door.

"Any ideas on how to actually get down there?" asked Pongo.

"See if we can find some rope or cable and perhaps swing down there. Maybe whoever's at the lower end can open the suitcase Sonic and the other action figures are in," suggested Ackbar. But alas, they could not find either of those two items. Suddenly, Tails came up with some old tape.

"That will do just fine, now, who gets to go down and be the hero here?" asked Ackbar.

"Excuse me, but, as Spider Spud, I believe this falls under my job description," volunteered Spider Spud a little cockily as he stepped forward. Gently, they wrapped some of the tape around his left arm, he jumped down quietly as 7 and Squirtle, working together, unrolled the tape.

"Don't lose your arm now," whispered Gimli. Spider Spud merely nodded. Once he was level with the suitcase, he quietly swung to it, and ever so quietly unlatched it. Mentally praying that Ernie wouldn't hear him, he opened the suitcase Sonic popped out, grabbed Spider Spud by the hand, and held on as tight as he dared without actually pulling on his friend's arm. But, Robotnik came back out of his box and separated them before pushing Sonic back into the suitcase and closing it. Hardly a second later the elevator door opened, and Ernie walked out, having no idea to what was going on behind him.

"Squirtle?" asked Squirtle.

"Literal translation: 'Now what?'" said Pongo.

"Allow me," said Gimli. Tucking his walking axe under his arm, he grabbed the tape, causing a bit of it to roll up on itself and slid down, making a thin rope like object out of the tape. When he reached Spider Spud, he simply pressed his feet against the potato's body.

"Just allow the tape to roll freely now!" he called to 7 and Squirtle, who did just as they were bidden. Together, Spider Spud and Gimli reached the floor of the elevator.

"You just stay here for now Spuddie, anchor our little climbing rope. I've got something to do," said Gimli who jumped off Spider Spud, ran out of the elevator, and slid his axe across the floor. It slid right up to the doors that were right about to close and just as Gimli hoped, it stopped them from closing all the way.

"Ah, excellent work, Master Dwarf!" cheered Ackbar, who wrapped his hands around the tape and slid down as well, with Spider Spud helping him.

"Squirtle, you better go next, everyone here will hold you," Pongo ordered his friend. Squirtle didn't even have to reply, he relinquished his task to Sirius, Pongo, and Tails, and slid down the tape. Spider Spud, however was forced to move out of the way in order to avoid being squashed.

"Squirtle, quick! You're big, get in the way of the elevator door's, see if you can stop them from closing!" Ackbar ordered. Sure enough, the elevator doors were about to close when Squirtle stood between them, and managed to make them back out of the way. In the meantime, Sirius went down the tape himself. Then 7 at the urge of both Pongo and Tails, went down the tape. Once she was safely down, Pongo and Tails jumped down together.

"Being plush toys, we're pretty durable, even if it does hurt a little," said Pongo. 7 quickly cut most of the tape off Spider Spud's arm and they all ran out. Once they were all outside, Gimli, who had been standing watch, lost no time in grabbing his axe and freeing it from the two doors. But, they were too late; Ernie's car left the garage and began driving away.

"Please don't tell me we came all this way to fail now," said 7.

"Pizza, anyone?" asked Tails. For a second, everyone looked him with concern, but when they saw where he was pointing, they cheered. A pizza delivery car! They rushed over, grateful to find the car opened and the keys still in place. Ackbar took a place up on the dashboard and began assigning roles.

"Squirtle, the brakes! 7, gas! Spuddie, see if you can work the gearshift! Sirius, you and Tails take the wheel!" he barked. Everyone rushed to his or her assigned stations; right after making sure the door was closed, of course.

"Oh look Sweetiebell and Scootaloo, we've got company," said a high-pitched voice from up above. Ackbar looked up and saw three small ponies. One was bright yellow with red hair and had a pink bow on her head, one was orange with purple hair and wings, and the third was white with purple hair and clearly a unicorn.

"Brilliant," grumbled Ackbar.

"I've got this thing in drive!" shouted Spider Spud.

"Hit the gas 7!" shouted Ackbar, 7 did as she was instructed, and while making sure that Squirtle released the brake. Luckily, thanks to a red light, they didn't have difficulty catching up with Ernie.

"Hit the brake Squirtle!" commanded Ackbar, he was pleased to feel the car stop right behind Ernie's car.

"Oh boy, a real adventure, maybe this will be what gets us our cutie marks!" said the pony with wings. Suddenly, the light changed, and following Ackbar's orders, they began to move again. Sirius and Tails worked very hard to keep the car steady.

"Enemy's merging into the left lane!" roared Ackbar.

"Mr. Ragged-Man, pull that wand down and you and your fox friend turn the wheel to the left!" instructed the unicorn. Sirius did as he was bidden, causing a blinker to go off.

"Alright, now try to straighten this car-Wait! He's going left! Turn left!" shouted Ackbar. Sirius was forced to take such a hard left turn that Tails lost his balance and found himself holding onto the steering wheel above the dashboard, and the string that held the ponies to the rear view mirror came loose and they fell right out of the open window. But Gimli, he was brave, placing his walking axe on the chair he and Pongo were sitting on, he jumped up and grabbed the string. Holding on as tight as he could for a few seconds before Pongo helped to pull him and those three ponies in. They all collapsed in a heap on the seat, Gimli's helmet falling off.

"You have saved us, for that we are most grateful," said the winged pony to Gimli, while the pony with the bow picked up his axe in her mouth, and the unicorn did likewise with his helmet.

"No trouble," grumbled Gimli, as he took back his axe and helmet.

"By the way, I'm Applebloom," said the pony with the bow.

"I'm Sweetiebell," said the unicorn.

"And I'm Scootaloo," said the winged pony.

"We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" they cheered in unison.

'Well, it's very nice to meet you Crusaders, I'm Pongo, and the dwarf here who saved your life is Gimli, Son of Gloin," said Pongo, ever the fatherly one.

Shortly after that, Ackbar lost sight of Ernie's car, but fortunately, there was a sign that said there was an airport coming up at the next exit.

"Alright, Sirius and Tails, we're going to have to move to the right, so on my signal, make the necessary adjustments," instructed Ackbar. Sirius and Tails nodded.

"Move to the right lane, now! Oh, and be ready to make a right turn!" he shouted. They shortly after came up to the airport, and with Ackbar's instructions, they came to a place where cars were being parked for unloading purposes.

"We'll just have to park here! Leave the car, if needs be, we'll think of something else to get home in!" Ackbar ordered. Once Squirtle hit the brakes, Spider Spud put the car in park and they all filed out. The ponies elected to tag along as well.

"You saved our lives, so we will accompany wherever you go," Scootaloo told Gimli.

"Great," the Dwarf replied.

"Any ideas for how to go through the airport?" asked 7.

"I think I just found a way!" announced Spider Spud, while pointing at a group of solid cages used for transporting pets in the luggage compartment of airplanes. At Ackbar's insistence Squirtle unlatched the small door and they all filed in. Tails had to crawl up the grating in order to latch it back up so it would not look suspicious. Fortunately, the floor of this pet carrier was a cage so those with thin enough feet got up front to stick their feet through (Tails and 7 with a little difficulty), lift it up and drag it while Squirtle and Spider Spud, who had really fat feet stood at the back. The ponies were too small so Squirtle and Spider Spud had to hold onto them. Spider Spud coming up with the idea that Squirtle should hold Sweetiebell up to look out for anyone that could come too close. They were about halfway in when Sirius managed to spot Ernie, instantly they knew they were at the right airport. They elected to continue on to the luggage tram when:

"Guys stop! Somebody's coming!" shouted Sweetiebell. The toys who were dragging the carrier dropped it. Unfortunately, 7 and Tails didn't get a proper chance to react and the thing fell on their feet. Gimli and Sirius had to cover Tails' and 7's mouths respectively to prevent them from screeching.

"Oh look Mom, a puppy!" a little girl's voice called out.

"Bark! Bark! Ru-ru-ru-ruwf!" barked Pongo, sending the little girl running away, scared.

"Good boy, Pongo," said Ackbar, patting the Dalmatian's head before they continued on their way. By the time they managed to get up to the conveyor belt, they all made sure that 7 and Tails got their feet free before settling down onto the conveyor belt.

"So, tell me, what is our current plan?"

"Simple, we just find that suitcase, and get Sonic and the other toys who wish to come with us," replied Ackbar. But as they passed through the black straps that the entire luggage on the conveyor belt went through, they gasped.

"It's a trap!" exclaimed Ackbar. Lines upon lines of conveyor belts crisscrossed, going in various directions. Up and down, left and right, forward and backward. While nobody was looking, Spider Spud popped his arms off, and making sure they were anchored at the front door, he opened the cage up.

"Well, standing here with our mouths open isn't going to do anything, is it?" he asked while reattaching his arms.

"There's the suitcase!" exclaimed Gimli. Following where his axe was pointing to, everyone could see a suitcase that did look very much like the one Ernie had been using.

"Wait! What if that one's the case we want!?" replied Tails, pointing at an identical suitcase.

"We must split up! Sirius, Tails, 7, and myself will take the one Tails found, the rest of you take the one Gimli found!" barked Ackbar. So they were off. Gimli, Spider Spud, Squirtle, and Pongo went after their suitcase, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders (forgotten by Ackbar in the heat of the moment) following right behind. They walked over various other suitcases, as fast as their legs would allow them to. But, something great happened. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, thanks to their relatively small size, were able to dart around the large suitcases and squeeze between various cracks and crevices, and reached the suitcase first.

"Way to go ponies! Now unlatch that suitcase!" called Gimli. Scootaloo and Applebloom did just that. Then, the three ponies, working together opened up the suitcase just as the rest of the group came up, ready to fight if needed. The bad news was that it turned out to be full of vinyl records.

"Well, there's no need to beat yourself up over that Gimli," said Spider Spud, trying to be encouraging.

"I just hope the others have much better luck than we just did," said Pongo. That was right about when Squirtle started pointing at a higher conveyor belt. His companions looked to where he was pointing and gasped.


	7. The Finale

Ackbar, Sirius, 7 and Tails were chasing their suitcase, when all of a sudden, one of Tails' tail's got stuck on another suitcase with a golfer stitched upon it.

"Guys! Help! I'm stuck!" he called, as the suitcase that he was caught upon was now being carried in a different direction. His companions looked back in fear and confusion. He clearly needed help, and yet Sonic needed help a few suitcases away as well.

"You two keep going, I'll get Tails!" volunteered 7 as she ran off to help him. Ackbar and Sirius nodded at each other and kept on running. When they finally came to the suitcase, they each took a latch, unlocked the suitcase and were starting to open it when Robotnik jumped up and punched both of them. That, in turn caused them to fall off the conveyor belt at opposite sides.

"Take that, you popular action figures!" snarled Robotnik.

"Nobody, does that to my pals!" said Sonic angrily, tackling his archenemy to the ground. Unfortunately, Robotnik was prepared and managed to floor Sonic on the conveyor belt. Keeping his foot on Sonic, he glared down on the blue hedgehog.

"It's your choice, hedgehog, you can go back in that box quietly, and not be harmed, or I can damage you. If you think I won't do that because it'll hinder my chance of immortality, guess again. The museum will have a repair shop. What's it going to be?" he asked.

"I am not getting in that box!" shouted Sonic.

"Have it your way," sneered Robotnik as he raised his hand, balled up in a fist. Sonic closed his eyes, ready for an impact. But, almost out of nowhere, a pair of legs came right up and kicked Robotnik off his balance. Sonic opened his eyes and saw those legs standing right in front of him, seemingly standing guard. Then, three ponies jumped up and started to attack Robotnik at opposite sides while he started flailing his arms around helplessly.

Sonic looked to his left and saw his friends running up to the suitcase. Even Ackbar and Sirius. Squirtle was carrying Spider Spud, who had clearly taken off his legs to rescue Sonic. Then Gimli ran up ahead and swung his axe right at Robotnik, not enough to cause damage, but just enough to knock the wind out of him. 7 jumped out from behind the suitcase that had previously held Robotnik and Sonic and grabbed the evil man, effortlessly picking him up by the scruff of the neck.

"Gotcha!" she joked. All the other toys gathered around him while Squirtle helped Spider Spud back into his legs.

"Fools! Imbeciles! Children destroy toys! Don't you realize that you're asking Sonic to go back into a false world! You will all be forgotten as you rot away in some landfill!" Robotnik shouted.

"Well Robuttnik, I believe that it's high time you got a chance to learn the true meaning of 'playtime'," said Sonic, while poking his enemy in the belly.

"7, could you and Sirius come with me and see if we can find this guy a new owner? The rest of you stay here and help everyone else out of that suitcase," Sonic asked his friends. Sirius and 7 nodded happily as they followed Sonic. When Robotnik saw the suitcase that Sonic was walking toward, he grew alarmed.

"No! No! NO! Anything but that!" he shrieked. Moments later, a pink backpack with flowers stitched on it appeared on the luggage carousel. Inside the outer netting pocket was an action figure of a round man with a big orange mustache.

"Oh look Barbie, a new toy! I think he could go with a makeover!" said a girl's voice. While picking up her backpack she slid her Barbie doll in next to Robotnik. While the girl was not looking, Robotnik came out of his neutral state, completely out of breath.

"Hey hon, you'll like Molly, she creates clothes for us, and is an excellent hair dresser," said the Barbie doll, who turned her towards Robotnik to reveal that the right side of her hair had in fact been braided, amazingly well.

"Why, you might even get to live in the doll house!" the Barbie doll continued, in a melodic voice. All Robotnik could do then was cry a pitiful moan. Meanwhile, hidden from public, Sonic, Sirius, and 7 waved farewell.

"Have a good time, Robuttnik!" laughed Sonic.

"Hey fellas! We could use some help over here!" Tails called while he and the other toys were busy rummaging through the suitcase to get all the other toys out.

"We don't have time to get you out of there, friend, we'll just have to take you in the box," Gimli told the Oracle while pulling the seer's box out with Squirtle's help. Everyone else was moving all the Styrofoam casings to get everybody else out. They had just managed to get everyone except for Sonya and Manic out when the suitcase reached the opening that lead to the exterior of the airport.

Everyone who was still standing on the conveyor watched as Sonya and Manic were forced to go into lifeless mode. As their suitcase went down to where a group of men with earphones were loading all the suitcases into trailers. One of them came up to the suitcase the two hedgehogs were still in and just made sure they were safely in before latching it back up and putting it onto the trailer.

"I have to get onto that trailer! The rest of you stay here!" said Sonic. The rest of the toys nodded and went onto more solid ground while Sonic ran to get his siblings.

"Squirtle, stay here! Tails, follow me!" Pongo commanded as he went after Sonic, Tails following right behind. As the two of them neared the trailers, Sonic was about to say something to the plush toys but Pongo stopped him before Sonic could form any words.

"We might be of some assistance! Just trust me!" he said. Sonic decided best not to argue, and simply nodded in agreement. It didn't take long for Pongo to be proved correct as he helped Sonic and Tails up onto one of the trailers by letting the hedgehog and fox climb onto his back and give them a boost. Then Pongo jumped up onto the trailer and together, they hid themselves behind a large leather suitcase.

The case carrying Sonya and Manic was being loaded onto the cargo hold of the plane destined for Japan and then followed by a golf bag. Out of one of the golf bag's zipped-up pockets, Sonic crept out and started looking for the right suitcase as best he could in the dim light. Luckily for him it didn't take long as he went up to the briefcase, unlatched it and opened it. There were his two siblings, hugging each other.

"Excuse me my fine friends, but I do believe you are both on the wrong flight," he joked.

"Sonic!" his siblings exclaimed as they embraced him.

"C'mon, let's get you two home," said Sonic.

"Are you sure? I mean, suppose Jake doesn't like us?" asked Sonya.

"Are you kidding? Jake is going to love you guys! Besides, we're a band remember? And, believe it or not, the tall character with the spear, she's a girl, so Jake won't hold that against you Sonya. Moreover, he's got a skateboard, I know you like those Manic. You'll fit right in," said Sonic.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Manic. Together, the three of them started running to the cargo door, but right about as they were going to get out, the door closed.

"What do we do now?" asked a mortified Sonya.

"There's some light over there!" responded Manic. Sure enough, there was some light coming from below in this one spot where one of the rear wheels was going to fold in. They ran over to it, but then saw that the plane was beginning to move!

"We'll never make it! If we jump from this height, the asphalt below will surely damage us!" warned Sonic. But then, from up above the tire's platform came a cheerful: "Yip! Yip!"

"Pongo! Tails!" cheered Sonic, very happy he was to see his friends.

"Told you we might be needed! Quickly, all of you climb down and get on my back! Tails, you just grab onto my front side and hold tight! We can take the fall because we're plush! But hurry! I don't how much longer we can stand here!" Pongo called. Carefully, the hedgehogs climbed down to Pongo, and just managed to squeeze close together and get on the Dalmatian's back. Tails, of course, embraced the Dalmatian around the neck so that he could act as extra cushioning and provide a little more room for the action figures.

"You might get a little jolted but we will hopefully take most of the impact!" Tails shouted and just as the wheel they were on was about to leave the ground, Pongo jumped and basically belly flopped onto the hard asphalt. The hedgehogs clumsily fell off him as a result of the impact. They suffered some minor scratches, but considered themselves all lucky to just be in one piece. Sonya was the first to get up, and the first thing she did was hug Pongo.

"Thank you, you wonderful dog you!" she said.

"Don't mention it, but I doubt that I will ever be able to do that again," he said.

"Well, I don't think you'll have to," laughed Manic as he too got up, helped Sonic up and went right up to Tails.

Thank you as well, fox boy, I really don't think that fall would have been as clean if you weren't there.

"Hey, it wasn't a problem, but I'm with Pongo, I am not doing something that crazy again!" laughed Tails as they all huddled close together.

"I vote we go home," said Sonic, right before another plane took off.

Jake was finally coming home, the moment his father parked into the driveway of their house, Jake jumped out and did a happy dance on the lawn before helping his parents unload the car. He went upstairs, straight to his room, and the moment he opened his door, he could not believe his eyes. There, standing on his bed were a group of his toys, along with some new ones standing around a piece of paper that said: ' **Welcome home Jake**.'

"Way cool! Some new toys! That's a real nice welcome home gift! I better make sure to thank Mom and Dad!"

The next day…

Jake was doing some needlework repairing the old Woodsy Owl, using one of the skills he learned at camp. His father came in to check on him.

"I'm glad to see you being constructive, and I'm also glad you don't think needlework is, well, girly," he said.

"Yeah, it's actually kind of fun. I just hope I can use the woodworking skills I learned in the near future as well," Jake laughed in agreement.

"By the way, funny story, the day before you came back home, Mrs. Moss from across the street found a vehicle from the airport parked right outside her house, she had to call in the police to return it, no idea as to how it could have got there," his father laughed. Jake laughed in unison.

"Oh, do come on down, I just could use some help washing the car," his father added. Jake nodded, snipped off some extra thread from the completed stitching he was doing on Woodsy Owl and followed his father downstairs. Woodsy jumped up and stretched, testing his new stitching's. Sonic came up to him, and put a hand on the owl's shoulders.

"Jake fixed you up real good buddy," he said.

"He sure did Sonic, he sure did," agreed Woodsy. Looking around the room, the new toys were becoming well adjusted to their new lives in Jake's room. Freed from the confines of his box, the Oracle could now move about freely, and was now in the midst of cracking a few jokes with Ackbar, Mr. Potato Head and Crush. Cyrus had taken up playing video games with Tails and Spider Spud from time to time. Sleet and Dingo, well, they preferred to hang out under the bed with the rest of the villains, but that just seemed natural.

Gimli, was now the leader of a small gang, made up of three small ponies who were fiercely loyal to him. In addition to hanging out with her two old friends and the Dwarf, Scootaloo also became close friends with Pongo and Squirtle. Nobody could explain it, but like Pongo, she too seemed able to understand Squirtle's language. Sonya had become best friends with 7 partly because they were both girls and it just felt that they had enough in common, and to some extent she had become close to 6 as well. Manic could often be seen with them as well, or playing video games with Tails, Cyrus, and Spider Spud, or playing Battleship with Ackbar, or just riding on the Hot Wheels tracks, he just seemed well-integrated.

Sirius and Aleena, oddly enough started hanging out more. They could often be seen walking, or sitting together, deep in conversation, sometimes holding hands. Tails came up to Sonic in that moment, gesturing toward the unusual couple.

"Do you think they might get married?" Tails asked.

"Well, we'll have to wait and see. They sure seem to get along nicely, I mean it's an unusual relationship, but hey, what relationship is normal?" laughed Sonic.

"Hey everyone! Check this out!" shouted Gimli who had just turned on the TV. Everyone gathered around to watch, and there was the Toy Shack, a man in front stood in front with a microphone.

"Well kids, you better break open your piggy banks and tell your parents to drive you over to the Fairview Mall, the Toy Shack is now going out of business. The owner of this store, Ernie Hudson, who has chosen not to make an appearance has declared bankruptcy," he said.

"Well, he got what was coming to him, crime never pays," said Spider Spud. Everyone nodded in agreement. Sonic pulled Sonya and Manic aside.

"You know that song in our pilot episode, 'Someday'?" he asked them. They both nodded in acknowledgment.

"Well, I think that day has finally come," he said. The three hedgehogs smiled, they knew that Sonic was right; life could not possibly be better for them than it was right now. Ackbar and Crush came up to them.

"So Sonic, are you still worried about Jake?" asked Ackbar. The five of them all looked down at Jake washing the car with his Dad, the two of them occasionally squirting each other.

"Nah, I'll enjoy playtime while it lasts, after that, I've got some of the best buddies imaginable to keep me company," answered Sonic.


End file.
